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Oats Coconut Ladoo

These days I rarely make sweets. Or I must say, both cooking and blogging have taken a back seat in my life. Everything revolves around my playful toddler. Its fun to be a kid again. Schedules and plans no longer work for me. It has turned out good for me. Now, I just go with the flow.Gudi Padwa is right around the corner. And festivals are a good excuse for some sweet indulgence. How about a healthy Oats dessert!Ingredients:Instant Oats - 1 cupUnsweetened Desiccated (Dry) Coconut - 1/2 cupLight Brown Sugar - 3/4 cupPistachios/Pista - about 2 tbspGreen Cardamom/Elaichi - 4 podsGhee/Clarified Butter - 1 tbspWhole Milk - 1/4 cupHow to make Oats Coconut Ladoo:

Crush cardamon seeds in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Set it aside.

Roughly chop pistachios. You can use any other nuts of your choice or any dry fruits like cherries or cranberries to add some color to the ladoo.

Heat a heavy bottom pan and dry roast oats for a couple minutes. Make sure the oats are heated well and don't have a raw smell. Set it aside for cooling.

Next, in the same pan, roast dry coconut at low heat until it turns slightly brown. I used unsweetened coconut powder which is easily available at any Indian grocery store. Let the coconut cool too.

In a food processor, pulse oats, coconut and light brown sugar to a coarse powder. You can pulse it to a very fine powder as well. Taste for sweetness of this ladoo mix and add more sugar if required. If you like your laddo a little less sweet, start with just 1/2 cup brown sugar.

You can use regular granulated sugar as well. Jaggery/Gud/Gul is also another healthier option.

Microwave milk and ghee in a microwave safe bowl for 10 seconds or until milk is heated. Make sure both milk and ghee are mixed well. Adding milk reduces the shelf life, but 1 - 2 tbsp ghee wasn't enough to make laddoo of it. Coconut oil is a great vegan substitute for ghee in this recipe.

Last is the mixing part. In a mixing bowl, add the powdered oats, coconut, sugar mixture. Also, add pistachios and cardamom. Stir all the ingredients well. Now add milk and ghee, little at a time, until you can make round ladoos of the mixture.

Divide the ladoo mixture in 10 parts. Grease your hands with few drops of ghee and roll each one into a round ball between your palms.

Serve Oats Coconut Ladoo in cupcake liners. Refrigeration is better since milk is one of the ingredients.